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“This is fucking insane,” Shane mutters under his breath.
As adrenaline courses around my body, I take a deep breath and tuck the gun into the back of my jeans, before following Conor and the twins out of the kitchen.
Chapter
Fifteen
SHANE
Half a dozen of our men are already in the club by the time we get down there and there are at least a dozen Russians too now, from what I can see. I wonder if Alexei Ivanov has come himself to get his daughter back. I certainly hope so because I want nothing more than to come face to face with him. There are shots being fired in every direction and Jessie is sandwiched between me and Conor as we edge into the club.
A gunshot whizzes past us and we dive for the cover of the bar as Liam and Mikey stride into the room like they’re made of titanium. Mikey tosses two grenades into the middle of the club while Liam shoots anything that moves that isn’t Irish or female. The Russians return the gunfire amid lots of shouting and noise while the twins head to the safety of the DJ booth.
We crouch behind the bar and I sense Jessie getting twitchy beside me. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I warn her before I turn to Conor. “I think the twins have taken a few of them out. I’m going to head out and come at them from the side. Cover me.”
Conor nods, but before I can act on my plan, Jessie moves while I’m distracted. She stands up from behind the bar and holds her hands in the air. “Papa,” she shouts, and the gunfire stops.
I grab hold of her leg. “Get the fuck down. Now,” I snarl at her.
She looks down at me and shakes her head. She is the fiercest woman I have ever known and I admire her almost as much as I hate the fact that she refuses to do as she’s told. “He’s here for me. I won’t have any of you getting hurt because of me.”
“You are not leaving here with him, Jessie,” Conor snaps.
“I need answers. I need to know who he really is. Please let me do this my way.”
I rub a hand over my face and sigh. “Fine. Let her try.”
Jessie gives me a brief smile and then she walks from behind the bar as Conor and I stand and train our guns on the men opposite us.
“Jessica. Idite syuda!” Come here!
“I’m here, Papa. But please ask your men to lower their weapons. I don’t want my friends hurt.”
“These men are not your friends,” Alexei snarls. “Friends do not steal you away in the night.”
“They didn’t steal me. I came willingly,” she lies.
There are a few moment’s silence. “If they will lower theirs first,” the reply eventually comes in a thick Russian accent.
I grind my teeth so hard my jaw aches, but I do as he asks. “Stand down,” I shout around the room and my men do the same, but I know that Liam has a sniper rifle in that DJ booth and he will have it trained on Alexei.
The Russians lower their weapons and a tall man, who I assume is Alexei, appears from the shadows. He holds out his arms to her. “Why did you run away?”
“Because you lied to me,” she says.
He shakes his head. “It is not I who is lying to you. It is these Irish pigs. They fill your pretty head with nonsense, printsessa. And I will make every one of them suffer for taking you from me.”
Conor bristles beside me, and I put my hand on his arm. We’ll have our chance as soon as Jessie is out of harm’s way.
Jessie glances around the room. The Russians appear to outnumber us, but they don’t have the upper hand. Jessie doesn’t know how good Liam is with a sniper rifle. Or how Mikey has explosives stashed in a floor safe beneath the DJ booth.
I see the exact moment she falters. “Then I’ll come back with you, Papa. Promise me you won’t hurt my friends and I’ll leave with you right now.”
I frown at Conor. She knows what he did to her. She knows he's probably the man responsible for killing her family, but she would do that? For us? Or so that she can exact her revenge? Or both?
“I told you. These animals are no friends of yours, Jessica,” he shouts.
“At least they don’t drug me to keep me compliant,” she says as she takes a step toward him. “Is that what you did, Papa? I’ve seen the reports. Is that why I was always so tired in your huge mansion? Because you were drugging me?”
